Maggie’s face goes red with anger and shame.
“I’ll sue you,” she snaps, whirling to glare at me. “All of you. None of you protected me from a professor who tried to blackmail me into sleeping with him!”
“Is that what Jeffrey Butler did?” Frances asks, smoothly deflecting the attention away from me. “Interesting that there is video evidence suggesting otherwise.”
Now the crowd stirs with a few gasps of horrified amusement.
Maggie backs up, gripping her bag. “That’s a lie.”
“If you want to sue, then we’ll ask the Office of Judicial Affairs to investigate further,” Frances snaps. “Is that what you want? You can’t hide behind your father anymore. As a matter of fact, you don’t have anywhere to hide.”
Maggie backs up another step, her bag clutched to her chest like a shield. And then, with a strange flash of fear, her gaze darts over the crowd and lands on the person sitting behind me.
I move forward instinctively to put myself between Maggie and Liv, to protect Liv from whatever venom Maggie might spit at her. Then I stop and turn to look at my wife.
Liv is watching Maggie, her expression calm but her eyes dark with a combination of anger and pity. Exactly the way she had looked at her mother.
The air seems to crack between Liv and Maggie. Then Maggie whirls on her heel and hurries from the room, slamming the door behind her. Hushed whispers rise.
All the breath escapes my lungs. Liv looks at me and nods toward the board members and Frances. I turn back to them and try to refocus.
“All right,” Radcliffe says, his voice loud and somewhat irritated. “We will address the matter of Miss Hamilton at a later date, as clearly some questions need to be answered. Now the issue at hand is Professor West’s misconduct and possible crime. You were recently arrested, Professor West, is that correct?”
“Yes, sir.”
“For disorderly conduct and fighting?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Excuse me, Chancellor.” Kelsey stands and pushes her way toward the microphone. “Kelsey March, associate professor, Department of Atmospheric Sciences.”
Radcliffe sighs. “Yes, Professor March?”
“I was present at the time of the incident, Chancellor,” Kelsey says. “It was the opening of Mrs. Olivia West’s café, and if I might say, it was a lovely event before Edward Hamilton’s assault on Professor West ruined it for everyone.”
“Professor West was assaulted?” one of the other board members asks.
“Violently.” Kelsey nods. “We all witnessed it. Verbal abuse, then a physical attack. It’s a wonder Professor West didn’t sustain more serious trauma.”
“Is that true, Professor West?” Radcliffe asks me.
“Uh… there was yelling and fighting, yes, sir.”
“And Edward Hamilton incited the fight by attacking Professor West first,” Kelsey adds. “Everyone saw it.”
I look at her in surprise. Even though my mind had been black with rage that day, I’m pretty sure I attacked Hamilton first in a full-body tackle.
Then I remember that he poked me in the chest before the real fight began. Though I don’t know if anyone can really define that as an attack, I am suddenly and intensely grateful to Kelsey.
“The facts,” Radcliffe continues, glaring at us all from beneath his heavy eyebrows, “are that Professor West has had difficulty with Maggie Hamilton for the duration of his employment at King’s University, which culminated in a very public and violent—”
A sudden noise arises from the back of the room, the main door clicking open. A rustle of people enters. We all turn to see what the commotion is about.
I can only stare as at least forty of my students file into the room, backpacks slung over their shoulders, and march down the central aisle to stand in front of the board. There are so many of them that I’m edged out of the way and wind up near the side exit door.
“Excuse me, Chancellor Radcliffe.” Jessica Burke pushes her way to the front of the crowd to reach the microphone.
The chancellor rolls his eyes. “Yes, miss?”
“My name is Jessica Burke. I’m one of Professor Dean West’s PhD students. We’re all students of Professor West’s, both graduate and undergraduates.”
She indicates her compatriots, several of whom wave at the board members.
“May I speak, Chancellor?” Jessica asks.
“It appears you already have, Miss Burke,” Radcliffe replies dryly.
“Thank you.” Jessica clears her throat and unfolds a piece of paper. “We are here to stand in full support of Professor Dean West. As students who were admitted to King’s University based on our academic excellence, we can unequivocally state that Professor West is an outstanding scholar, mentor, advisor, and teacher. He has challenged us in our scholarship, guided us in our research, and believes in our ability to be both strong, innovative students and citizens of the world.”
I feel a few of the students glance at me. My throat is so tight it hurts.
“Is Professor West guilty of a crime?” Jessica asks, her gaze sweeping over the board members. “The answer is yes.”